Commission advances $5.8 million shelterproject at Carden Farm
Anderson County is looking to build a new shelter in Carden Farm Park to replace its current facility on Blockhouse Valley Road. (photo:Ben Pounds )
The Anderson County Commission at its Monday, Nov. 17, meeting approved a motion awarding the bid to the architect’s recommended bidder, subject to U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development approval, with the county paying what Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank called the “soft costs.” Frank said she would write a letter to the USDA to explain how the county would cover those soft costs. Neither the resolution nor Frank named the officially recommended bidder, which she said she did not yet have.
The new animal shelter will be near the Carden Farm Dog Park and will replace the county’s current animal shelter on Blockhouse Valley Road. Frank said the commission had earlier authorized a bond ceiling of $5.9 million for the USDA loan-funded project. Given the construction and other costs, the county will be left with $102,488 from the USDA loan for the shelter’s equipment.
Frank stated the county had already paid $202,013.06 of $284,730 in architect fees and had the capacity to pay the initial debt-service payments out of the debt-service fund to cover the cost differential.
She stated in an email that she and the architect planned to work on bringing down the cost of some of the items. During the meeting, she also talked about paying for some of the project with fundraising, even though she wanted to get “shovel in the ground and work started” first.
“This process has been very slow, but we have a very low interest rate working with USDA,” Frank told The Courier News. “That rate is 3.625%, and there is no pre-payment penalty, so if we raise funds or want to pay early, we can. Also, the way this USDA loan works, if for some reason rates would fall below 3.625% we get the lower rate.”
At County Commission, the resolution passed 8-3. County Commissioner Sabra Beauchamp made the motion, and County Commissioner Anthony Allen seconded it. Voting against the measure were Commissioners Tracy Wandell, Chad McNabb and Joshua Anderson. Voting for it were Commissioners Ebony Capshaw, Shain Vowell, Tim Isbel, Phil Yager, Shelly Vandagriff, Denise Palmer, Beauchamp, Bob Smallridge, Michael Foster, Jerry White and Allen. Commissioners Steven Verran and Robert McKamey were absent.
Wandell said he had concerns not just about the cost to build and equip the new shelter, but also about the cost to maintain it after its construction. During the meeting, Palmer stopped Wandell from talking about bringing water to people in New River during the discussion, saying it was irrelevant to the item up for a vote.
In an interview after the meeting, Wandell explained he thought water for the New River area was a more worthwhile project to fund with a loan.
“If we’re going to borrow money, it would be helpful to serve the people that pay their taxes who need clean water,” he said.
Beauchamp agreed that $5.9 million was expensive, but called the shelter an “investment.”
“And it’s worth investing in,” she said of the new Anderson County Animal Shelter.
The construction and equipment costs are in addition to the costs incident to the sale and financing and the estimated interest on the bond anticipation note, Frank stated. She said fees total about $46,500, plus estimated interest of $253,500.
However, Frank proposed that the bond anticipation note proceeds be invested in a Local Government Investment Pool account, where they could earn an estimated $75,000 to $100,000 in interest. That would reduce the funding gap for the shelter’s equipment.
Frank told The Courier News the high cost reflects not just the building itself, but also excavation and parking lots. She described the new facility as having a veterinary center and an education room.
Despite Wandell’s concerns, Frank said the new facility would save on some of the costs the shelter currently has, such as the cost of employing people to work with some of the shelter’s cats at PetSmart. Frank said the PetSmart branch accounted for more than 2,000 cat adoptions last year.
She also said the new shelter would reduce travel costs by having an office at the shelter itself instead of at the courthouse.
“There’s going to be some savings by actually having a facility instead of the makeshift place that we are at now,” she said.